1 Tb Laptop Hard Drive

Hitachi have successfully scaled-down a key component in the hard drive down to nano-scale and this accomplishment allows for a 1 TB Laptop Hard Drive to be created. This breakthrough will allow hard drive capacities to quadruple in the next 4 years. For a desktop you can expect a hard drive to have a 4 Terabyte capacity with laptops and iPod’s having 1 Terabyte of storage. To give you an idea of what a Terabyte of information can store it would be equal to 1 million books, 250 hours of HD video or 250000 tunes. Quadruple that for the desktop sized hard drives and there you have an even more insane amount of storage space.

I can understand the need of such storage amounts in a business situation, but for personal use… I have barely broken the 20Gb mark and I bet half of that is just junk anyway. It is still an impressive accomplishment and although not needed right now, a 1 TB Laptop Hard Drive could well be needed in 4 years time when higher res photos will be stored, HD DVD’s will be stored and a lot more.

To accomplish this….

Hitachi said it has created the world’s smallest disk drive heads in the 30-nanometre to 50-nanometre range, or about 2,000 times smaller than the width of an average human hair.

Via: ZDNet

Driverless Pods ferry you around Airport

prt_system
A new system has been created which is targeting the problem of traffic around Heathrow airport among others. A network of 18 driverless pods will carry passengers between the car park and terminal. PRT (Personal Rapid Transport) systems are not new although Heathrow airport will be the first to actually test the system. If the system looks like the picture above then it appears like several passengers and baggage could be carried at a time. In my opinion it seems like 18 might not be enough at Heathrow due to how many passengers fly each day. Time will tell though.

Via: Link Notes

Samsung SPH-P9200 UMPC

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I came across this UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) over at DEGadget today and first impressions it looks like an interesting device. It is white and features a full QWERTY keyboard with a large 5 inch WVGA screen. The keyboard is the main part that got my attention as it is split in the middle allowing it to fold and then the screen also fold in making a more compact device to carry around. It runs Windows XP for an OS and has a 1GHz processor. On the memory side it has 512MB which isn’t bad at all and should be plenty to run the XP operating system. Built in is a 30GB HDD allowing for plenty of storage space while on the go.

Connectivity seems quite good too as it sports GSM/GPRS/Edge and HSDPA. Wi-Fi is built in at 802.11g. USB ports are also built in allowing connectivity with wires. Battery life is not too bad at 2.5 hours with the standard battery although it is possible to jump to 5 hours with an extended battery.

Overall it seems like quite a nice package if you are wanting a replacement for a laptop, but the benefit of a nice sized keyboard.
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Google Maps Street View in 6 More Cities


Google has recently added six more cities to the line up on Street View at their maps website. You can view street level images of Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Phoenix, Tucson and Portland.

Via: LinkNotes

NASA Preparing for Takeoff

Shuttle
A lot more then I expected goes on behind the scenes of a shuttle launch over at NASA. The first image shows the shuttle preparing to be attached to the tank.

NASA
The second image above shows the tank making it’s way over to the NASA building ready to have the boosters attached to it and the shuttle loaded on.

Tank
This image is the tank being positioned to have all the parts attached to it.

Booster
Also do not forget the engines need to be added on to the shuttle.

More pictures can be found of the sequence over at Nyike and are well worth your time to check them out.

Rocket Launch with On Board Camera


This small rocket was hacked to include a small CVS camcorder which costs around $20. Attached to the rocket it then launches in to the sky showing the ground below. The cool thing about this is the speed that this thing goes up. For a second view of the rocket launching check out the video below.

350mW Laser Lights a Match at 10 Feet


I came across this cool video today which shows someone using a 350mW laser to light a match. That’s a fair amount of power to achieve that and something I wouldn’t want to cross paths with. Check out the video above.

360 Desktop

360d-eg-xtras-white
360 Desktop is a program which extends your Windows desktop beyond the limits of the screen. It allows for an almost unlimited sized desktop which allows for more room to spread out your work. Images can be used for the backdrop to allow for more of a panoramic effect which from the video demonstration, does look quite cool. To try and imagine how it works, just think of a big circle which your screen has access to a part of. Rotate it around to see various other parts. This is one tool to look out for.

For a full demonstration of what 360 Desktop is, check out the video below.


Via: 360Desktop

4D Virtual Human

4D-Virtual-Human
Scientists at the University of Calgary recently created a computer model of a human body. The body resides in a virtual reality room known as a Research Holodeck where the the 4D model floats in space by being projected from three walls and the floor. When created, the model had 10 times resolution of any other in the market. For a more detailed explanation check out ScienceDaily who have a full report of the CAVEMan.

New Google 411 Service is Free


With Google aiming for world domination they have now released a free 411 service. Dial 1-800-GOOG-411 from your cell phone, tell them where you are and what you are looking for and you will be connected free of charge. Not a bad deal at all if you ask me. For those who use regular paying services often you will be glad to know those charges will go away should you decide to use Googles service.

Via: GOOG411

Vodafone Data Speed Increase

Vodafone is about to upgrade its mobile broadband service which will see download speeds jump from 1.4Mbps up to a possible 7.2Mbps over a HSDPA. To add to this download speed they are also making the upload speed to be an impressive 1.44Mbps which is very good in my opinion. The upgrade is for those paying 25 GBP per month and will initially be available in parts of London and some of the major airports.

Connectivity at this speed will only be found in 3G covered areas while the 2G network coverage will provide speeds at GPRS levels. Unfortunately 7.2Mbps will not always be met although it is a possibility. Speeds will normally fall in between 1.7Mbps to 5.5Mbps. Along with having high speeds Vodafone have a fairly good usage cap of 3GB per month which should be more then enough for most browsing.

Via: TechWorld

Download your PSP Games – Almost

PSP

Download Sony PSP Games Legally in the future

How would you like to be able to download games for the PSP rather then purchasing the UMD from a shop? It seems like this is the way Sony is moving with the latest firmware releases for the Sony PSP. Both 3.50 and 3.51 versions were opened up and found to contain a module named np9660.prx which is an official ISO loader made by Sony which can load encrypted ISO files from a memory stick. Also you might be aware of a new download service that is being made available by Sony later this year. This could mean that PSP games will be downloadable in the future, hopefully cutting costs and increasing load times with them working right from your memory stick.

Memory sticks were quite small in capacity a few years back when the PSP was launched, but in the last few months we have seen some nice capacity memory sticks which should allow for several games to be stored on them.

This is only rumor at the moment, but with finding the module in the firmware it is a good indication of what could be available in the next few months.

Via: Hackinthebox